I think even a short term partnership can be very beneficial - just having someone to practise with and go to the occasional social really expands the dance time and investment. It also gets you into 'the field' so that you are exposed to other dancers and if and when the partnershp breaks up you are more likely to find a new and maybe more stable partner. If the dancing is awful because of personality, goal or ability level then obviously think twice....

that's the one that gets me, no-one around half good enough to be worth practicing with.

Not an easy problem to fix. In my case if my DP quit I would have 0 options - no one at my level AND height in ontario...

”We need a witness to our lives. There's a billion people on the planet, what does any one life really mean? But in a marriage, you're promising to care about everything. The good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things, all of it, all of the time, every day. "

Everyone tries to rush up through the syllabus levles and think once they are at the top they have arrived. What they don't realize is that by doing this it is like skimming through a book, you may get the gist but you will never understand the story.

”We need a witness to our lives. There's a billion people on the planet, what does any one life really mean? But in a marriage, you're promising to care about everything. The good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things, all of it, all of the time, every day. "

Ah, you want to match your nail polish. Okay, yeah I think that can happen.

Logged

Everyone tries to rush up through the syllabus levles and think once they are at the top they have arrived. What they don't realize is that by doing this it is like skimming through a book, you may get the gist but you will never understand the story.

”We need a witness to our lives. There's a billion people on the planet, what does any one life really mean? But in a marriage, you're promising to care about everything. The good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things, all of it, all of the time, every day. "

I think there's a potential for many complications that are unrelated to one partner or the other moving. I agree with whoever said that shared goals are important. But how realistic is it to expect a teenager for example) to share dance goals with a retiree? Sure. Theoretically, it could happen. But does it, especially given the different levels of physical ability for each age group.

I know of one partnership between a late teen and a ~40yr old. They both seem quite content. Trouble is once they get of syllabus he is going to have to compete in the adult catagory - together with the career-track youngsters. Not much of a prospect...

I think there's a potential for many complications that are unrelated to one partner or the other moving. I agree with whoever said that shared goals are important. But how realistic is it to expect a teenager for example) to share dance goals with a retiree? Sure. Theoretically, it could happen. But does it, especially given the different levels of physical ability for each age group.

I don't want to sound like a smart a$$, but if they don't have the same dance goal, they shouldn't partner up at the first place. No?

Well, unless at the short run, their goals met - or at least each could offer something on the table.